Letting go is part of being let go.

Last year I wrote a blag about being made redundant and how it nearly always leads on to better things and new opportunities.

The redundant blog.

Little did I know that I was about to test my own theory when the sword of Damocles finally fell last September and I left CDM London.

Me and my big mouth.

I can’t say too much about that scenario for obvious reasons, but throughout the process I was reminded of the theory of loss-aversion. Discovered by scientists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman it reveals that the pain of losing is stronger than the pleasure of winning. As a result, humans will go to greater lengths to avoid losses than to pursue gains.

For example, if you have £100 and you lose £50 in the street, it will likely feel worse to you than if you had £0 and gained £50.

(Translated in to marketing this theory becomes ‘Hurry, sale ends Saturday!’)

We all struggle with losing something we are familiar with and often the potential gains seem too abstract.

But when it is thrust upon you, as it is for so many people in this industry it’s time to man up, woman up, and face up to the challenge.

I went home and played some FIFA 22.

I changed my linkedin status to ‘freelance’.

I walked the dog every day and checked out a new gym. (still haven’t joined it) and painted the utility room.

Then I called Phil (my good friend and cherished colleague– which is apparently how we refer to each other now in our blogs).

We sat in a pub garden in Kent on a blisteringly hot weekday and discussed what options were available to us. Did we want to work together again? it seemed that way, but I think we both felt that this was also an ‘every man for himself’ situation.

We talked of start ups, but as we left the pub we agreed it would be nice to have ‘a sponsor’. Let’s go away and have a think. What would be a good name for a start up? Like starting a band, the deceptively hard part is deciding on a name. The best I came up with was ‘The pharmyard’. Maybe a good one for a veterinary specialist?

I re-read my own blog and took my own advice.

Tip 1.

When you are looking for a job there is no such thing as a wasted chat.

I went to the Creative Floor Awards and was very proud to pick up our last two official CDM London awards- One for the Bayer Ophthalmology campaign with the three blind photographers by the very talented Jon Moore and Alan Cinnamond and one for a children’s book called The Forgetfuls – which I had written for Kaftrio, a Cystic Fibrosis miracle drug, which although shortlisted three times actually won for best illustration – art directed beautifully by the fabulously talented Laura Higueras.

Prior to the event, that very afternoon in fact, I had had lunch with an old colleague from the US. This seemingly convivial lunch subsequently kick-started three months of talks with a New York agency that wanted to start up in the UK, but hadn’t found the right agency to buy.

Would Phil and I be interested to set up something as a new management team? had we found that £50 in the street?

Tip 2.

Take some time off.

Loss aversion can resonate for quite some time after actually leaving somewhere so you need to draw a line in the sand. And sand means a beach and sunshine.

One of the things I didn’t do the last time I was let go (and probably should have) was to let go and take some time off. I was too scared to get off the treadmill so I just kept bloody running. But it’s amazing what a week on a sunbed can do for the spirit and clarity of mind.

Dubrovnik in Croatia was a last minute destination choice that I can’t recommend enough. Especially if you’re a Game of Thrones fan. I licked my loss-aversion wounds and we started the conversation with the agency in NYC.

Meanwhile things on the freelance front were pretty non-existent but I wasn’t that bothered to be honest, so wasn’t chasing it. We had our agency in New York.

Tip 3.

Trust your career (and keep your website up to date.)

This isn’t meant to be glib or self-congratulatory as I know there are creatives out there struggling to find work, but if there’s anything that should spur you on to fight for decent creative work today it’s the knowledge that it means something – not just for the clients and products or even the agency reputation – but to you personally.

(It’s not a full proof system, as there are plenty of multi-awarded creative people who are kicking their heels but I suspect not as many as the deeply average ones.)

If you’ve done or been associated with some nice work, something that was noticed, chances are someone somewhere will want you to work for them. All the lost weekends and late nights and missed children’s bedtimes mean something eventually, I promise.

Like a good skin-care regime; you don’t see the benefits at the time.

And you’re never too old or senior to have a portfolio in my opinion. Nurture it and it will reward you.

I am very proud of the work we’d created at CDM London and the team we had built over the last ten years.

Apparently people had taken notice. And guess what, the band of friends who had also been ‘let go’ all started to get new jobs. My heart glowed with pride.

In December, while we were still chatting with the first agency and things were dragging a little, ConcentricLife entered the ring.

They had just been bought by Accenture Song and were ready to rumble in the UK.

Phil and I now had two £50 notes that we’d found in the street and one of them was moving quickly. Really quickly.

It was not an easy decision to make, but this was an opportunity too good to miss.

A very gracious discussion with ‘£50 note number one’ ensued and soon Phil and I found ourselves signing up for another stint working with each other (whoop!) and the chance to build on a fledgling office in London.

January saw us hopping on a plane and wandering the streets of NYC and meeting our new bosses and team mates. Dry January had to wait a week.

(Incidentally if you haven’t been to NYC for a while you’ll notice that the streets reek of weed these days- literally everywhere– so maybe it’s why the town seems friendlier than it used to, everyone’s high!)

So back in London – here we are, nestled in Farringdon, shoulder to shoulder with what used to be Karmarama and is now Accenture Song – with Dave Droga as the big-big boss and new business circling over our heads and the opportunity to build a new team of likeminded creative people who want to create something special.

And I even got FIFA 24 for Christmas.

Tip 4.

The letting go part.

I think, finally, that after an upheaval like redundancy it’s important to leave the effects of loss aversion at the front door. The temptation to try and recreate what we built at CDM is a strong one but it’s important to realise our new home is a very different agency.

And of course, that’s the best part.

It’s important to let go of bitterness, the sense of injustice when two agencies merge and it’s important to let go of old colleagues and old systems. It’s time to embrace the new and climb onboard the rocket ship to try out a new planet.

Because when you realise you lost £50 but found £200 it’s a little easier to reconcile.